Google shook up the streaming video world Wednesday when it introduced a US$35 HDMI dongle that allows content to be airmailed from a smartphone, tablet or laptop to a TV.
Called "Chromecast," the unit is already being hailed as a potential streaming set-top box killer. "It could make the set-top box obsolete," said tech analyst Rob Enderle. "It makes the set-top box redundant." Chromecast lets you connect any TV with an HDMI port with any Android or iOS device, as well as with Google's Chrome browser on a Windows PC or Mac.

Photo: ibtimes.com

The latest numbers from IDC, ABI and Strategy Analytics (the latter not yet online) paint an interesting picture of where the smartphone business currently stands, and where the iPhone sits within it.

The overall picture for smartphones is, of course, strong. IDC reports:

In the worldwide smartphone market, vendors shipped 237.9 million units in 2Q13 compared to the 156.2 million units shipped in 2Q12. This represents 52.3% year-over-year-growth, the highest annual growth rate in five quarters. Second quarter shipments were up 10.0% when compared to the 216.3 million units shipped in 1Q13....

The China Times (via Macotakara) is forecasting an October launch for the Haswell-based MacBook Pros. Citing supply chain sources, which are often far more reliable on specs than they are on timing, the report notes that, based on pricing, the new MacBook Pros should remain in the same price range as present models.

Apple is widely expected to launch its new iPhones and iPads in the September-October timeframe ahead of the holiday buying season.

Haswell processors don’t offer too much in terms of improved processor speed but...

Here’s an achievement certain to be trotted out at Apple’s next big media event. Harris Interactive on Thursday declared the company the top U.S. brand across a trio of consumer electronics categories — the only three in which it’s rated.

According to Harris Interactive’s 2013 EquiTrend survey, which polls some 38,000 U.S. consumers about their brand preferences, Apple dominated not only the tablet segment, but the mobile phone and computer segments, as well.

Quite the hat trick, and one Apple has pulled off for two years running now, beating out some serious competition. In the computer category, Apple bested Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Sony; in the tablet category, it surpassed Amazon, Google and Samsung; and in the mobile phone segment, it beat HTC, Samsung and LG.

Said Harris Interactive senior VP Manny Flores, “… What really stands out is that in all three of the categories Apple...

While broadly compared to Apple TV, Google's new Chromecast product and the WebRTC protocol behind it aren't really comparable to Apple's AirPlay, the wireless video feature that is the main reason people are buying and using Apple TV.  ...

Cult author Neil Gaiman is teaming up with stylish developer team The Odd Gentlemen to produce the writer's first foray into video games -- a "puzzle/adventure game hybrid" called Wayward Manor. The software, which features a madcap plot along the lines of classic "screwball" comedies such as Arsenic and Old Lace and Blithe Spirit, places the player in the role of a ghost who wants the manor house all to themselves, and thus must successfully scare away any residents. The program, which will be available for Windows, Mac and "tablets," will arrive this fall.... ...

An alleged "motherboard" from an iPhone 5S has turned up at a Chinese repair shop called iHospital. Lending credibility to the report is the fact that the new photos exactly match a motherboard leaked a more than a month ago, including some changes in layout. It is clearly possible that both leaked boards were fakes, but the new photos show that the boards are in production (since they are pictured as a pair in a snap-out card) and further support the reports that the iPhone 5S will sport multiple internal improvements, including the camera and graphics.... ...

Reports of phishing emails seeking Apple ID passwords have been making the rounds, with the fraudulent messages leveraging perceived concerns over the extended downtime of Apple's developer website to gain access to sensitive user data.   ...

Apple has pulled off another hat-trick in capturing the top rankings in three separate but mainstream categories in a new poll from Harris Poll EquiTrend. Like last year, the company has again been ranked the top brand for computers, tablets and smartphones as decided by more than 38,500 American buyers that were asked to rank brands on over 1,500 products in 155 categories. The polling company also noted that consumers placed Apple in the top 30 of all 1,500 brands evaluated for "momentum," indicating its good relationship with consumers will continue into the future.... ...

CalorieKing is one of the oldest nutritional tools available online and the service bills itself as "America's trusted food database." If you're looking for the caloric content of a meal -- be it homemade or from a fast-food joint -- you'll likely find the answer on CalorieKing, and the website features an in-depth weight management program as well. Late last year CalorieKing launched ControlMyWeight, an app that acts as a food and exercise log as well as a nutritional research tool, and its ease of use is quickly making it one of my favorite fitness apps.

For a somewhat steep $3.99 entry fee ControlMyWeight gives you a suite of tools to help you manage your intake and workout routines. Entering a meal or snack is as simple as a few taps and the massive database of foods from CalorieKing means you'll rarely have to manually enter a food. In the rare cases you can't locate your...

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to promote his upcoming film JOBS, Ashton Kutcher talked about what prompted him to take on the role of Steve Jobs while also expressing regret for not meeting the Apple co-founder when he had a chance.

A transcript of the video is below. Incidentally, the few clips I've seen of Kutcher as Jobs are rather impressive.

I had an opportunity to meet him about 6 months before he passed away. I was working that day and couldn't go. In hindsight, I had the opportunity to meet the Leonardo da Vinci of our generation and I missed it. That really affected my decision to take on the role.

It was actually the day that he died... for me, I hear people talk about they knew where they were the day Kennedy died. And for me, I'll never forget the moment I heard that he died. And I pulled my car to the side of the road, and kind of took a moment. I got home and I realized, I sat down on my computer and started doing some work and I...

When it comes to finding a particular photograph of the Space Needle in your haystack of digital photos, you’ll have a hard time unless you follow the advice about assigning keywords and other metadata in the sixth chapter of Jeff Carlson’s “Take Control of Your Digital Photos,” now available to TidBITS members. Jeff explains how to choose and assign keywords, fix incorrect dates, and apply geotags to your photos in each of the four main photo-management apps.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Market research firm Harris Interactive on Thursday announced Apple, for the second consecutive year, beat out tech giants like Google, Samsung, and Amazon to be named computer, tablet and mobile phone "Brand of the Year."  ...

If you need to look up your Mac's IP address, there are some quick ways to do so.

Digital Treasures launched a new iPad case called Repel on Thursday. This case is cool because it's waterproof up to 33  feet. For those who track such things, the company had it tested and received an IPX8 certification. It's not very attractive, but if you want to take your iPad around lots of water—I'm thinking the tub, the pool, the lake, or the ocean—waterproof beats pretty every day of the week. Repel folds over like a book-cover style case, and if you fold the front cover back, you can use it to prop your iPad up in two positions for viewing, as shown in the picture. You can touch and type through the clear cover, and the back has a cutout for the camera. It's US$49.95, and it's available now.

While many have questioned the post-Steve Jobs fate of Apple, the company continues to hold its spot as a top technology brand across three mainstream categories, according to findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study. In its first full year under Tim Cook’s stewardship, Apple took home repeat Brand of the Year distinctions in three categories – Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone – in the annual study, which measures the perceptions of 38,500+ American consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across over 155 categories.

Well that settles it, Apple is doomed.

∞ Read this on The Loop

From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to round up the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+.

Also check out the latest...

Ashton Kutcher called Steve Jobs, "the Leonardo da Vinci of our generation" in a promo interview for the Jobs biopic on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The comment came when he was describing how he had an opportunity to meet Mr. Jobs about six months before he died, but didn't because of his work schedule. “In hindsight," he said. "I look back and I think I had an opportunity to meet the Leonardo da Vinci of our generation, and I missed it, and that really affected my decision to take on the role.” The interview segment posted to YouTube includes a new scene from the film where Steve Jobs accuses Mike "Ace" Markkula of letting Apple's board of directors take the Macintosh product line away from him. We posted the full trailer in June. The movie hits theaters August 16th, 2013.

...

Yahoo on Thursday released the 2013 version of its Fantasy Sports app for the upcoming NFL season, offering a revamped look, performance improvements, and the ability to draft players from an iPhone or iPad.   ...

Apple's ebook price-fixing cases are now in the settlement stage in the US and Europe, and the latest word from the EU is that Penguin has become the last publisher to offer to end ebook pricing restriction deals with Apple.

In December of 2012, Apple and the other four publishers named in the European Commission price fixing case agreed to settle by allowing retailers to set their own prices or discounts for the next two years and drop the "most-favored nation" contracts for five years. With this latest move by Penguin, all of the parties involved have now settled the concerns of the European Commission and this chapter of Apple history comes to a close.

The damages to be levied against Apple in the US...

Shipping times for the Mac mini have slipped to between five and seven days at Apple's online store. Typically, other Macs on the store are shipping within 24 hours. Such delays are often a sign that Apple is reducing supplies in preparation for a product update....   ...

The V5AP speaker, with multiple drivers, from Wren, designed specifically for Apple products, offers AirPlay, 3.5mm stereo jack, and USB connections while providing magnificent sound.

We are very fortunate to be in a position to more than double the size of the capital return program we announced last year. We believe so strongly that repurchasing our shares represents an attractive use of our capital that we have dedicated the vast majority of the increase in our capital return program to share repurchases.”

– Apple CEO Tim Cook, April 2013

Apple’s share buyback program is proving to be quite a bit larger than originally conceived.

Though its original plan called for the repurchase of 10 million shares in its third fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple instead bought up 36 million shares. It spent about $16 billion to do so, buying up shares at an average price of about $488, according to some back-of-the-napkin math by Asymco’s Horace Dediu.

A massive purchase, indeed. For...

New iPhone users have reported that they’ve been unable to activate their phones, as it appears that Apple’s activation servers are experiencing an outage. An AT&T employee has reportedly confirmed the outage. A number of threads discussing activation problems have also popped up in Apple support forums. It…

They’re getting closer to OS X 10.8.5.

Per MacNN, Apple has again made available a new beta of the forthcoming OS X 10.8.5 for developers to test. Like last week, the new version (12F26) is just three build numbers higher than the previous one, suggesting that the company is nearing the end of testing.

As with last week’s build, there are no known issues — however, due to the prolonged downtime of Apple’s Developer Center, download options to obtain the latest build are limited. Those who are running previous builds can obtain the new one through the Software Update mechanism,...

Following a report that a woman in China was electrocuted by her iPhone charger and Apple's subsequent investigation into the incident, the company has updated its website in the country with tips on identifying whether or not you're using an official Apple charger or a third-party knockoff. The investigation into the accident showed the victim was using a third-party charger, and in this case it seems the charger was defective.

The Mac Observer Spin:
The loss of life, especially in situations like this, is a horrible tragedy. Apple's response was totally predictable: Investigate the incident, then warn customers about the dangers of knockoff iPhone chargers.

Apple’s Mac mini shipping times have slipped from 24 hours to 5-7 days, MacRumors notes. The change occurred today as a Bing Search cache points to 24 hour shipping times as of yesterday.

The slip in shipping times currently appears exclusive to the Mac mini, in multiple Apple Online Stores, as Apple’s other Macs are still showing the typical 24 hour times to ship.

While a slip in shipping times does not confirm an imminent update,...

Lots of smart people I know are very, very excited about Chromecast, Google’s new TV streaming gadget.

I think it’s pretty cool, too. But only as an iterative step: Maybe I’m not smart enough to figure out The Big Picture, but to me this seems like a cheaper version of Apple TV and Roku’s boxes, both of which do very similar things.

But Apple TV and Roku were pretty cheap to begin with, and now Chromestick is just about free. Google is selling it for $35, but it’s giving you three free months of Netflix (even if you’re already a Netflix subscriber), which brings the net cost down to $11. If you smoke cigarettes and you live in New York City, you will pay more for a pack of Marlboro Lights.*

So if Chromestick’s main...

New iPhone owners are finding themselves unable to activate their devices today, according to widespread accounts. Trying to go through the process in iOS generates an error message stating that activation servers are unavailable, while suggesting that people try again later or activate through iTunes instead. Customer calls to Apple appear to confirm that servers are down, as does word from an AT&T source....  ...

Just three weeks after Bluebox Security first announced the discovery of a key flaw in Google's Android with the potential to turn devices into a "zombie botnet," Symantec has reported finding rogue apps that take advantage of the vulnerability.  ...

iMore directs us to a new research study from Kapersky Labs which indicates that the number of phishing attacks purporting to come from Apple are on the rise.

Kapersky writes that the phishing attacks attempt to secure the Apple ID credentials of unsuspecting victims, which can then be used to access said users' iTunes and iCloud accounts and subsequently retrieve stored credit card numbers.

From January 2012 through May 2013 Kaspersky Lab's cloud-based Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) detected an average of 200,000 attempts per day of users trying to access the phishing sites, which were triggered each time a user running Kaspersky Lab's products was...

IK Multimedia has announced that the iKlip Stand, a desktop stand for the iPad and iPad mini, is now shipping. The stand can be used to position an iPad above other gear on a tabletop or desktop surface, and features a ball-joint device holder for easily switching between portrait and landscape orientations. In addition, a clamp that can be used in place of the standard base to secure the iPad to the edge of a desk or table is also included with every stand. The iKlip Stand sells for $70 and can be purchased online and from authorized retailers across the US.... ...

Includes networking, formatting, and user interface improvements to the popular file cleanup and processing utility.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

It has been over a week since the Apple Developer Center Web site went offline, with no indication of when it will be back. However, Apple has now created a status page displaying an itemized checklist of what services are online, which currently includes only iTunes Connect and Bug Reporter. (Alas, you can't click the icons to bring services up and down!) In email to developers, Apple announced that it is prioritizing the order in which updated systems will be made available. Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, Apple Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, pre-release developer libraries, and videos will be available first, followed by software downloads and remaining systems.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member!...

Writer and developer Matt Gemmell has detailed how to connect an Apple Newton to a contemporary Mac running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Sold by Apple from 1993 until 1998, the Newton was a groundbreaking handheld device that featured handwriting recognition but wasn’t commercially successful. If you have an old Newton kicking around, Gemmell advises acquiring the software and hardware required to connect it to your computer now, as it’s likely to become harder to obtain in the future. And if you’re just Newton-curious, Gemmell discusses some Newton emulators with which you can experiment.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the...

The European Commission has accepted a proposal from British publisher Penguin -- and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann -- to toss e-book deals it signed with Apple that are in violation of European competition regulations, according to a press release. "After our decision of December 2012, the commitments are now legally binding on Apple and all five publishers including Penguin, restoring a competitive environment in the market for e-books," states the EC's Competition commissioner, Joaquín Almunia....  ...

Most Apple owners are familiar with the UDID, aka serial number, for their iOS device, but did you know that your Mac has a similar hardware UUID too? In this post, I will show you where to find it, so you can use it in beta testing.

If you ever volunteer to test a beta Mac app, you will likely need to provide the developer with this hardware UUID. This alphanumeric value is used by the developer to provision an Adhoc version of the software specifically for your Mac. Finding your UUID is not too difficult once you figure out where it is located in OS X.

To find you UUID, you must start with the Apple icon in the top left corner of your Mac menu bar. Click on the Apple and then select "About This Mac," as shown above.

This will pull up the basic details about your Mac hardware, including its processor, memory and startup disk. Click on "More Info..." to view the...

It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD and subject to change).

Deals from Dealnews

• StackSocial: [Mac Software] The Mac Freebie 10-App Bundle for free
• StackSocial: [Graphics & Publishing Software] 192-Vector Icon Bundle for PC and Mac downloads for free
• MacUpdate Promo: [Mac Software] Cocktail 6 for Mac downloads for $20
• ...

Following the release of a redesigned Logic Pro X suite earlier this month, Apple has just updated the app to version 10.0.1 with a number of bug fixes and performance improvements. Notably, its new Track Stacks feature will “no longer be inadvertently flattened by loading a Patch” and will also have access to Tuner for stacks containing audio tracks. In addition, Apple says “24-bit audio files are no longer converted to 16-bit when exporting projects to AAF”.

Full release notes below:

...

Things still aren't looking up for BlackBerry, as the struggling Canadian phone maker revealed Thursday it will lay off 250 more employees as part of a continuing plan to cut costs and rescale its operations.   ...

You mean Twitterrific can get better? Yup. The latest update to the $3 Twitter client includes an overhauled visual look, plus fixes like sizing a photo to the screen of your device and playing audio from in-app videos even if your sound is turned off. Other problems—including issues saving tweets to Storify—have also been addressed.

Not a big surprise, but I always feel bad for the workers. I hate seeing anyone lose their job, especially when it’s because a company is being mismanaged.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Penguin has agreed to terminate its ebook agreement with Apple and to allow Amazon to set its own prices for electronic books in a settlement of a European Union antitrust case.

The European Commission accepted the deal with Penguin on Thursday after more than a year of investigations into allegations of cartel price fixing in the ebook market.

Four other e­book publishers—Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre and Macmillan—together with Apple were originally included in the investigation, but they agreed to terms with the Commission last December.

The Commission concluded that an infringement had probably taken place when the five publishers and Apple jointly switched from a wholesale model to an agency sale model. Under a wholesale model, the retailer is free to set the price, but with an agency model, the retail price of e­books is determined by the publishers.

...

After a Chinese woman was earlier this month evidently electrocuted while talking on her iPhone while it was plugged in to charge, Apple is warning users to avoid counterfeit chargers. From CNet: "Last week, reports surfaced in China that suggested the woman, Ma Ailun, might have been using a third-party charger designed to look like the real thing. Although third-party chargers are not uncommon, they vary widely in terms of safety and quality. Earlier this year, safety consulting and certification company UL issued a warning that counterfeit Apple USB chargers were making the rounds and that consumers should be on the lookout for them due to their lower quality and possibly dangerous defects. The company posted the guidance on its site after a woman was allegedly electrocuted while answering a call on her iPhone."

...

Silent Light - Classroom Timer and Decibel Meter is a new app from the folks at Top Storey Apps. It was written by a pair of teachers for teachers to use in the classroom or homeschool environment. The premise behind the app is simple -- it uses the microphone on the iOS device to detect background noise and rewards children when they are quiet for a set amount of time.

The Silent Light app lets you select a target noise level that is compatible with a range of activities. When it is test-taking time, you can set the app to the lowest "hear a pin-drop" level of quietness. If you are holding small group discussions, you can raise the noise level to allow quiet talking, but not loud outbursts. The app rewards children with points for being quiet and you can configure the time, from 1 to 15 minutes, it takes for a child to earn a point. The app...

The successor to Algoriddim's Djay app hit the App Store on Thursday, while Nike's Nike + Running app got new tracking and bragging rights features in the form of Nike+ Challenges.   ...

Back in June, Google released a new Google+ Photos app for the Chromebook Pixel and noted that the slick app would also be coming to other Chrome OS devices. However, today we received some proof that the Chrome app might be soon making its way to other platforms including Mac and Windows. The Google Operating System blog notes that the app has recently made its way to the Chrome Web Store with the app’s description describing auto-upload features for Mac, PC, and Linux:...

The Dropbox updates just keep comin’…

On Wednesday, Dropbox released version 2.2.10 of its cloud-based storage client for Mac OS X. The new version, a 31 megabyte download (via MacUpdate), which adds the following fixes and changes:
- Reduced initial startup time.

- Reduced initial link time.

- Reduced time taken when relinking a previously linked account.

- Fixed an issue which could cause certain files to sync endlessly.

- Fixed an issue which could cause proxy connection settings to be lost.

- Other minor fixes.

Dropbox...